Rogers to design tower on World Trade Centre site

The architects Richard Rogers and Fumihiko Maki have been asked to design two office towers to be built at the World Trade Centre site.

Lord Rogers, the British architect who is designing an expansion of the Jacob K Javits Convention Centre, and Mr Maki, who is designing a temporary United Nations headquarters, will design two of the three towers under the developer Larry Silverstein's control at the site. Mr Silverstein's lease at the site was renegotiated last week, meaning that he has given up rights to the Freedom Tower and another planned skyscraper to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The tower that Lord Rogers will design will be built first, followed by Mr Maki's and a third that Norman Foster has been asked to design.

Mr Silverstein said: "The selection of architects to produce designs for two of the remaining four towers is another sign the World Trade Centre rebuilding is proceeding swiftly and intelligently."

Lord Rogers' tower will include 2 million square feet of office space; Mr Maki's will incorporate 1.8 million square feet. Each will include five floors of retail spacewith an underground concourse link to a transit hub.

Lord Rogers said: "It is a rare opportunity to have been appointed to design one of the buildings on this site, and we are delighted to be working in the heart of the city."

Mr Maki, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect from Japan, said: "This is undoubtedly the most highly anticipated redevelopment project of our time, and I am honoured to have been selected to work on designing 150 Greenwich Street."

Both towers will have addresses on Greenwich Street, which is scheduled to be rebuilt on the trade centre site. Construction of both is due to begin next year.